Game parks often have an aura of elitism. Those who frequent them generally need money to buy the equipment that allows the wilderness to be enjoyed in comfort — and a stable job so that they can take the time off to do so.
This is particularly true of St Lucia in South Africa, long a playground for those with four-wheel-drive vehicles, fishing boats and diving gear.
But ever since the area was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999 — and 260 000 hectares of forest, military land and scattered game farms joined to create the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park — playtime in the area has been severely curtailed.
In 2001, four-wheel-drives were banned from the beach, infuriating fishermen, divers and 4X4 enthusiasts. Then, senior business executives and government officials found their rights to occupy private fishing huts in the park’s secluded coves were no longer renewable.
Instead, these areas were sold as concessions to large hotel groups, many of them foreign, for development. The sales form part of an ambitious project to preserve St Lucia’s attractions, whilst improving the lives of local communities that suffered under apartheid.
Initially there were plans to mine titanium in St Lucia. But, an organised public succeeded in convincing cabinet to declare tourism and conservation more appropriate land uses for the area.
Mindful that conservation would fail if impoverished communities bordering the park did not benefit tangibly from it, government set up the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park Authority in 2000 with the difficult mandate of balancing concern for the environment against economic development.
The authority has since put together a plan to transform what was once a playground for the privileged into a ‘people’s park”.
‘We have to create economic benefits and tourism facilities for people who, under apartheid, would never have visited game parks, because these were seen as places where animals were more important than people,” says Andrew Zaloumis, Chief Executive Officer of the park authority.
The eight sites earmarked for concessions will bring over $60-million-worth of private investment into the park and create 900 permanent jobs. They are also expected to generate about $513 000 of revenue each year.
Eight preferred concessionaires were announced in 2003. The park authority is now under intense pressure to prove that concessions can create economic benefits comparable to those generated by mining. Although government opposes titanium extraction, cabinet has also noted that many St Lucia locals, who live in severe poverty, initially supported mining and the jobs it guaranteed.
Zaloumis emphasises that the concessionaires were selected on the basis of their commitment to creating employment. ‘Many of them (the jobs) will be menial,” he admits. But, every concessionaire has also provided training programmes in its development plans so that local workers can ultimately advance to management level in the new developments.
‘The authority will audit this. Concessionaires face fines or losing their licences if they don’t stick to their commitments.”
Creating economic benefits for local people has also underpinned the upgrading of infrastructure in the park. Since 2002, just over
$105-million of government money has been invested in the upgrading. This included tarring what was once a rough track between Hluhluwe, north of the port city of Durban, and Ponto do Ouro on Mozambique’s southern border with the KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa.
The $34-million upgrade of the road, known as the Spine Road, was done in four phases. In the first phase, only 30 percent of the work was done by small- and medium-sized firms that are based locally. However, by phase four, these companies were responsible for 60% of the construction work.
‘We were taught to lay gravel roads, plumbing and even how to tender for jobs,” says Ephraim Mfeko, an elder of the Bhangazi tribe. This ethnic group was evicted from the park in the 1970’s, but in 1999 successfully reclaimed its rights to land in the park, where the Bhangazi once farmed.
The tribe cannot return to live on the land because it is now protected. But the 1999 settlement stipulated that the Bhangazi should receive a percentage of park fees, and that tribe members should be preferred employees for any infrastructure development in the reserve.
Mfeko says he used the experience he gained working on the Spine Road to expand his construction business. He is now doing contract work on two other roads in KwaZulu-Natal, and employing 59 people.
The Spine Road has also given 75 000 people living in the vicinity their first all-weather access route to schools, clinics and markets. ‘Before, we were stranded when it rained because only tractors could handle the mud,” says Mfeko.
In addition, the Spine Road — which links 78 existing and planned tourist sites — increases public access to the St Lucia park, countering perceptions that its attractions are only accessible to those wealthy enough to afford five-star lodges.
‘Before the road was tarred, you needed your own 4X4 and your own boat to dive or fish. Now you can hire a taxi to take you to a point where a concessionaire can collect you. For a fixed fee you then have access to its boats and equipment. A lot more people will use the park now,” Zaloumis argues.
In fact, the park authority took the idea that St Lucia must remain accessible to domestic tourists so seriously, that it refused a tender put forward by a hotel group that controls 60% of the European Union’s (EU) tourism market. The group had wanted to develop the Cape Vidal area of the reserve.
‘Cape Vidal concessionaires had to provide accommodation ranging from camping to two- and five-star lodges. We lost that EU-based group because they were only interested in five-star development,” Zaloumis says.
In addition to meeting requirements for benefiting communities adversely affected by apartheid — and ensuring access for local tourists — the concessionaires are also bound by strict conservation rules.
The right to develop sites is subject to their completing ‘environmental impact assessments” (EIA’s) at their own cost and risk before March.
‘This means that if a company has won a concession to develop a 70-bed boutique resort — but its EIA shows carrying capacity at that site is only 50 beds — then the company will have no recourse against government for losing out on 20 beds,” Zaloumis explains.
Concessionaires have to put down deposits of about $220 000 dollars before commencing any development. Any fines they incur for contravening the park’s rules on damage caused during construction will be deducted from this deposit.
Tony Conway, Conservation Manager for Ezemvelo KwaZulu Natal Wildlife — the provincial conservation authority — says ‘As Conservation Manager of the park, I am happy that due consideration is being given during the development. In addition to trying to balance socio-economic interests, the authority is also investing money in conservation infrastructure.”
Ezemvelo is independent of the St Lucia authority, and is charged with managing all game parks in KwaZulu-Natal.
Provincial wildlife vet Dave Cooper agrees with Conway, but he also raises a concern about the re-introduction of game into the park. This was started in 2002 as part of a programme to stock the area with animals to attract tourists — and hence concessionaires.
‘There is a lot of political pressure to bring in big game. I think some game was re-introduced too hastily: better fences and anti-poaching measures were needed, and some habitats needed more rehabilitation,” notes Cooper.
Almost $8-million is needed each year just to run the reserve — with extra funds required for upgrading infrastructure and improving the skills of local people so that they can benefit from development.
But, if the current efforts in St Lucia succeed, the park may well prove that conservation is not necessarily the preserve of the privileged.– IPS